Online Surveys = Ongoing Insights

Drink it Up: What Consumers Want When Buying Beer

Although the debate over powdered alcohol’s legality rages on, this month we decided to find out more about beer, which–lucky for many of us–is still legal in the US. During our beer fact-finding mission, we asked whether the size of the brewery or packaging made a difference when buying beer. (It does.) We also dug into when and where people were enjoying their beer and found out how much people really knew about getting an ice-cold beer fast. What we discovered could very well save your next party.

So what exactly are American consumers choosing from their grocery or store shelves when it comes to beer? Using SurveyMonkey Audience, we surveyed over 300 people to help Mother Road Mobile Canning, a mobile canning company, find out the answers. (Follow our blog to get updates on our in-depth beer and wine research for Mother Road Mobile Canning along with ideas and tips for how to conduct your own market research.)

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Decisions, decisions…how they’re made in the beer aisle

How do you decide on a beer to buy? 57% of people said taste was most important when choosing a beer. (Tweet this.) But when we asked people to tell us everything that’s important when choosing a beer a few other criteria made it into the mix.

Turns out, the top four considerations when choosing a beer were:

Taste

Price

Style of beer

Brewery that produces the beer

For the people who chose Other, we mostly heard that small craft brews were best, though one person pointed out they should be “new flavors that aren’t weird.” So true.

Sizing up the importance of breweries and packaging

When it comes to breweries, 63% of people prefer the beers produced by small independent breweries versus large, mainstream ones. (Tweet this.) But not everything small is good when it comes to beer. In fact, 55% of people are choosing six-packs when they do buy beer with 34% buying even larger quantities, such as several six-packs, 24-packs, or more at one time.

So when exactly is beer o’clock?

Beer, unsurprisingly, was a popular summertime beverage with 47% saying they drink more beer in the summer than at any other time of the year. (Tweet this.) A slightly higher 48% said they drink the same amount of beer year-round.

Sorry, winter, there’s hardly any extra beer for you

“Beer me, preferably at a picnic or BBQ,” says almost everyone

Wondering what’s the perfect spot to enjoy a beer? 95% of people say they bring and enjoy beer at picnics or BBQs. 76% said they bring and drink beer while relaxing at a pool, lake or by the ocean. Also, 9% of people are enjoying a beer outside almost every day (yep, we’re jealous), while 55% only do that once or twice a month.

With so many people outdoor enjoying their beer, we wondered if beer cans might be a better than beer bottles as they are lighter and easier to carry. As it turns out, 77% of people preferred beer in bottles to cans, but 62% said they would buy beer in cans for convenience when outdoors or camping.

Ice-cold info that could save your next party

Although beer bottles were preferred over cans generally, there was one last little piece of business we had. If you’ve ever had a bunch of beer to chill, you might know that beer cans chill fast than bottles. That’s right, beer cans will get colder faster than beer bottles in your fridge or ice bath, but they also heat up faster in your hands. (Blame science for that. See more on thermal conductivity.) We decided to see how many people knew about this potentially critical piece of party-throwing information.

Overall, 42% of people thought beer in cans and beer in bottles chilled at the same rate, while 44% thought cans chilled faster–which means we should all consider spending a little more time with both beer and science.

What are you drinking these days? Do you like your beer in cans or in bottles? Crack open a cold one and share your thoughts below.